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Suswatibasu (1701 KP) rated Sing, Unburied, Sing in Books
Oct 3, 2017
A Toni Morrison novel updated for modern times
This is no doubt a modern day version of reading a Toni Morrison novel. From the magical realism aspect to social issues affecting African Americans, this novel is both haunting and almost poetic.
The story follows a family on their way to a prison, in which the children's white father is due to be released. The teenage boy and his three year old sister are mostly dependent on one another as well as their grandparents Pop and Mam. The mother Leonie is absent, and rather aloof in their upbringing, forcing her son, Jojo to bring up his kid sister. In between are disturbing stories featured in flashbacks and ghostly apparitions, The novel explores interracial relationships, police brutality and even post traumatic stress disorder to a degree.
While it can seem haphazard, going back and forth in time, and random narratives appearing throughout, it leaves the reader with a sense of unease and despair at the violent nature of society. A truly intriguing read.
The story follows a family on their way to a prison, in which the children's white father is due to be released. The teenage boy and his three year old sister are mostly dependent on one another as well as their grandparents Pop and Mam. The mother Leonie is absent, and rather aloof in their upbringing, forcing her son, Jojo to bring up his kid sister. In between are disturbing stories featured in flashbacks and ghostly apparitions, The novel explores interracial relationships, police brutality and even post traumatic stress disorder to a degree.
While it can seem haphazard, going back and forth in time, and random narratives appearing throughout, it leaves the reader with a sense of unease and despair at the violent nature of society. A truly intriguing read.
InkyBooks (43 KP) rated The Midnight Dance in Books
Oct 23, 2017
This book is not a normal choice of mine, but I just absolutely adored the cover and it kept grabbing my attention. The story left me not quite knowing how to feel by the end of it. The writing was good and the main character was a delight of loved her strong will and the need to keep going to save not only herself but her fellow class mates from this prison of a "dance school". I did feel that the description and getting to know characters better did fall alittle short though. The main story plot had very much potential and I did feel it was somewhat rushed. I liked how it went back and tried to fill in the blanks on how the school and master came to be, but I wish they would've furthered the telling on masters younger life and what made him make the horrific decisions he made. Overall I did enjoy the book even if I did have some negative thoughts as well.
Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated Orange is the New Black - Season 1 in TV
Aug 3, 2017
The range of different characters (2 more)
The cast are all great
The writing is sharp and witty
Life on the inside is different
My girlfriend was actually the one to talk me into trying this show and I am so glad she did. This first season is great. The storyline is engaging, the characters are instantly memorable and the writing is fast and razor sharp. This is another high quality show produced by Netflix and at this point their track record shows more hits than misses. The strange thing though, and the only thing that stops me from scoring this show a 10, is the main character, Piper Chapman.
She is obnoxious, self absorbed and consistently dislikeable and I don't get why. The show is based on a book written by real life prison inmate Piper Kerman. Why would she show herself to be an insensitive, irritating idiot? This isn't the actors fault though, Taylor Schilling does a good job with what she is given, but Piper as a character is genuinely the worst thing about the show.
She is obnoxious, self absorbed and consistently dislikeable and I don't get why. The show is based on a book written by real life prison inmate Piper Kerman. Why would she show herself to be an insensitive, irritating idiot? This isn't the actors fault though, Taylor Schilling does a good job with what she is given, but Piper as a character is genuinely the worst thing about the show.
KatieLouCreate (162 KP) rated Monopoly in Tabletop Games
Mar 9, 2018
Great game (2 more)
Time consumer
Educational
Time consumer (2 more)
Tears families apart
Hope you don't mind a prison sentence
Either a really good game, or a really bad game
I love this game. My family and I always used to play this in the school holidays so it always has a lovely memory attached to it. On the other hand, it has been the cause of a few arguments and sore losers as you can probably imagine. Nevertheless, when you can get through a game without arguing it is so fun to play.
It is a massively long game if you are playing in large groups though or people refuse to trade cards and help the game progress. We used to have to either play until an ungodly hour in the morning or put the game aside and continue playing the next night. So if you're after a quick game, Monopoly is a no-no.
Additionally, we used to play card games and use Monopoly money as currency. So there's that use too if you're not feeling up for a massive board game.
It is a massively long game if you are playing in large groups though or people refuse to trade cards and help the game progress. We used to have to either play until an ungodly hour in the morning or put the game aside and continue playing the next night. So if you're after a quick game, Monopoly is a no-no.
Additionally, we used to play card games and use Monopoly money as currency. So there's that use too if you're not feeling up for a massive board game.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2171 KP) rated Void Moon in Books
Mar 9, 2018
Six years ago, Cassie Black’s life went wrong when a casino hotel robbery went very wrong. She’s served time in prison and is now ten months into serving parole when she finds herself needing cash, so she takes on one last job, which takes her back to the casino where the job went wrong six years before. Is this job the windfall it appears to be or will it go wrong as well?
I’m being rather vague in my teaser because, like most Michael Connelly books, this is one you need to experience for yourself. I did find the beginning a little slow and technical, but when it took off, it grabbed me and I was along for the ride. This was despite the fact that I didn’t love any of the major characters. I can’t find myself rooting for a criminal, so it wasn’t until we met some characters even worse than Cassie that I found myself rooting for her.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2017/12/book-review-void-moon-by-michael.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
I’m being rather vague in my teaser because, like most Michael Connelly books, this is one you need to experience for yourself. I did find the beginning a little slow and technical, but when it took off, it grabbed me and I was along for the ride. This was despite the fact that I didn’t love any of the major characters. I can’t find myself rooting for a criminal, so it wasn’t until we met some characters even worse than Cassie that I found myself rooting for her.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2017/12/book-review-void-moon-by-michael.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2171 KP) rated F is for Fugitive (Kinsey Millhone, #6) in Books
Mar 9, 2018
Seventeen years ago, the murder of a teen shocked the small community of Floral Beach. The young man who confessed to the crime broke out of prison a year later, but he’s been recaptured and Kinsey has been hired to prove his innocence. With the trails cold, she has her work cut out for her, and it seems everyone in town is hiding a secret. Can she learn the truth of what happened all those years ago?
One again, we are off on a wild ride that only gets wilder as we go along. Since we spend almost the entire book outside of Kinsey’s normal stomping grounds, the cast of characters are all new, and they are fantastic. Everything comes together for a great and logical ending, and I’m curious to see how the growth Kinsey experienced here will translate in the next in the series.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2017/01/book-review-f-is-for-fugitive-by-sue.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
One again, we are off on a wild ride that only gets wilder as we go along. Since we spend almost the entire book outside of Kinsey’s normal stomping grounds, the cast of characters are all new, and they are fantastic. Everything comes together for a great and logical ending, and I’m curious to see how the growth Kinsey experienced here will translate in the next in the series.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2017/01/book-review-f-is-for-fugitive-by-sue.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
Sharpie0499 (114 KP) rated Bandslam (2009) in Movies
Jul 9, 2018 (Updated Jul 9, 2018)
Good hidden truths (1 more)
Good coming-of-age film
High School Musical Level
Contains spoilers, click to show
Bandslam is a decent coming-of-age film for ages 7-13, but it is your typical American high school story where the guy gets the girl and everything works out in the end. The only good thing that comes from this film is the hidden truth that is revealed about society: when rumours are passed around about you and you move school, but the students at the new school always find out about your background and use it as a weapon. This brutal truth is shown throughout the film as Will tries, unsuccessfully, to hide the fact his father killed a kid whilst drinking under the influence and is now in prison with a DUI. What is most shocking is, not only do the students at his new school use his father's DUI against him, but so does Charlotte, who was supposedly Will's friend. Overall, Bandslam is more suited to younger audiences with an open mind.
Andy K (10821 KP) rated Ocean’s 8 (2018) in Movies
Nov 3, 2018
Going through the motions...
Ocean's Eight was not an awful film, just completely unnecessary. Who was clamoring for anther "Ocean's" outing. Just remaking famous films like "Ghostbusters" with all women just isn't enough to captivate me especially since this one was very average indeed.
When Debbie Ocean gets out of a five year prison sentence, she decides to take on the Met Gala and heist a $150 million dollar necklace which has come out of retirement for the evening. The usual gathering of cohorts and planning stages are present, but with very uninteresting, flat one-dimensional characters.
I was about to say I was never bored, but I kind of was. I picked up my phone and was checking email which is a sure sign of me waiting to see how long the film has left before it is over.
Anne Hathaway was my favorite in the film as she seemed to have the most to do. Sarah Paulson who I love was given a very boring part with nothing exciting to say or do.
Overall, very disappointing.
When Debbie Ocean gets out of a five year prison sentence, she decides to take on the Met Gala and heist a $150 million dollar necklace which has come out of retirement for the evening. The usual gathering of cohorts and planning stages are present, but with very uninteresting, flat one-dimensional characters.
I was about to say I was never bored, but I kind of was. I picked up my phone and was checking email which is a sure sign of me waiting to see how long the film has left before it is over.
Anne Hathaway was my favorite in the film as she seemed to have the most to do. Sarah Paulson who I love was given a very boring part with nothing exciting to say or do.
Overall, very disappointing.
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Cube (1997) in Movies
Jan 6, 2020
Inside The Cube
Cube- holy shit this movie was good, i liked it alot. I never seen it before, but heard about it. I heard many things about it, like it was a cult classic, a great twisted psycholgoical horror film and has traps. Than i was confused because i thought their were talking about Saw, the first one. Nope their are two different movies but about the same thing basically. Saw is also a cult classic, a great twisted psychological horror film and has traps. So thats aint cofusing at all.
The Plot: Without remembering how they got there, several strangers awaken in a prison of cubic cells, some of them booby-trapped. There's onetime cop Quentin (Maurice Dean Wint), scientist Holloway (Nicky Guadagni), young math genius Leaven (Nicole de Boer), master of escapes Rennes (Wayne Robson), autistic savant Kazan (Andrew Miller) and architect Worth (David Hewlett), who might have more information on the maze than he lets on. The prisoners must use their combined skills if they are to escape.
Its a cult classic and must watch horror film.
The Plot: Without remembering how they got there, several strangers awaken in a prison of cubic cells, some of them booby-trapped. There's onetime cop Quentin (Maurice Dean Wint), scientist Holloway (Nicky Guadagni), young math genius Leaven (Nicole de Boer), master of escapes Rennes (Wayne Robson), autistic savant Kazan (Andrew Miller) and architect Worth (David Hewlett), who might have more information on the maze than he lets on. The prisoners must use their combined skills if they are to escape.
Its a cult classic and must watch horror film.
The Memoirs of Karl Doenitz: Ten Years and Twenty Days
Book
The story of the last world war, as told by Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz himself. His memoir covers...